


Cheshire

by Chrisio



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Aaron just wants to be a good boyfriend, Burrcules, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Ficlet, Fluff, Hercules has no idea what's going on, M/M, established Burrcules
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-09-02 10:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8663866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrisio/pseuds/Chrisio
Summary: After an argument left both sides upset, Aaron Burr tries to alleviate his guilt and make it up to his boyfriend. Of course, he doesn't do it the easy way and just talk to Hercules. Who even does that?





	

**Author's Note:**

> So this was supposed to be a quick thing for a friend who was having a bad night. Turns out I have shitty timing, because this took a lot longer to write than I thought it would. It's my first written thing in a while, so I hope it's okay.
> 
> I apologize for any mistakes or awkward bits; this is unedited. Since I only just recently finished it, I wanted to get it up ASAP.
> 
> Hope y'all like it!

"Hercules, no."

"Look, I'm just saying-!"

"Herc-"

"Come on, Aaron! What if-"

"You know we can't."

As his boyfriend's shoulders slumped in disappointment, Burr knew he won the argument. The victory, however, didn't give him the rush of satisfaction it usually would. Instead, Aaron watched as Hercules sighed, becoming a sad, muted version of the vibrant person he usually was. Seeing his boyfriend like this made his heart twist. Burr wished he could solve the issue, but really, what choice did they have? It was out of his hands. They would just have to accept it, as much as he hated it.

"You're right," Hercules mumbled. It was enough to snap Burr out of his thoughts. Had he said that out loud? From looking at Hercules, though, it would appear that wasn't the case. It looked more like he was sighing to himself, repeatedly mumbling, "You're right. You're always right. We can't do it anyway. Dunno why I even thought-"

It crushed him to see his boyfriend look so defeated, but what could he do to make it better? Nothing. There wasn't any wiggle room -- at least, not for them. However, the circumstances didn't stop him from at least trying to comfort his boyfriend. "Herc," Aaron began, reaching out a hand and placing it on Hercules' shoulder.

Instead of accepting it, Hercules sighed and shrugged it off. "I gotta go," he mumbled, beginning to slide on his coat. "I promised John I'd help him out with his turtles."

Aaron could only watch as his boyfriend made his way to the door. "Herc," he pleaded. Hercules just looked up from the door, flashing him a small, weak smile.

"I'll be back later, okay?"

And so the door was shut, leaving Aaron to stew in his guilt all by himself.

* * *

 

The idea came to him one day in the middle of work.

It was a slow day. He had been flipping through his paperwork, too bored and distracted to really care about what was sitting on his desk at the moment. Looked like it was the Reynolds divorce trial -- shitty husband, wife wanted out. An open and shut case. Easy enough. So while he was reviewing his notes on the case (for the 70th time), his mind wandered. And that's what caused him to inhale sharply 3 minutes later, eyes flying open with vigor and body snapping to attention as a notion popped into his head. Would he even be able to...? Was that...?

Burr's fingers flew on the computer keyboard as he pulled up the website and scrolled through the page he was looking for. Where was it, where was.....oh! Right there! As his eyes scanned across the text, he could feel a smile stretching across his face. This was it! He finally found an answer to their problem from weeks before!

Shoving the paperwork off to the side, Burr flipped open to a new page in his legal pad and hastily scrawled out a rudimentary list of what he needed. This was going to take time. He'd need to plan.

And Hercules was going to love it.

* * *

 

It was finally done.

After weeks of preparation, continuous research, checking to make sure he had gotten everything they could possibly need -- it was done. Now all he needed was to pick up the final part and everything would be set!

Aaron was thrilled. Hercules had probably forgotten about their argument by now, which was perfect. It just meant he would be all the more surprised when he walked in the door. Now all Burr had to do was wait.

He found the perfect opportunity a few days later. If he went to work, he would essentially be saddled with busywork. The transition period between cases passed as slowly as possible, so it was an ideal time to take a day off. It was unheard of for Aaron Burr to take a day off, but now it served in his favor. He had picked up the final part of the surprise that morning, and now he just had to wait until Hercules came home.

It took hours. Finally, _finally_ , Aaron heard the scrape of a key in the lock, a click as the door opened and Herc stepped inside. "Hey," he called from his spot in the kitchen. From where he sat at the table, he could see Herc startle a little and turn his head to find the voice. Aaron gave a small smile as his boyfriend finally found him.

"'Hey' yourself," Hercules answered, strolling forward and leaning against one of the walls, arms crossed. "What're you doing home? You're never early."

He just shrugged. "Took the day off. Wasn't feeling well." Absolute bullshit, but hey, he wasn't planning on an elaborate excuse. He only needed to act enough to try and seem natural.

From his spot in the doorway, Herc scoffed. "You took a day off? Who are you and what have you done with my real boyfriend?" He laughed as he pushed off the wall, walking around the chair to enclose Aaron in a backward hug. Aaron, just melted into it, grinning.

"Shut up," he laughed.  He could feel the rumble of Hercules' chest as he chuckled. There was a soft kiss pressed to the top of his head.

"You should have told me," Hercules murmured. "I would have stayed home and taken care of you."

"That's exactly why I didn't. You're terrible. You'd mother-hen me to death."

He could hear Herc give a scoff and then step back. "Rude. I just try to be a nice, caring person who takes care of his boyfriend when he's sick. But I see I'm unappreciated around here." That made Aaron laugh as he turned to face Hercules, pulling him down to place a kiss on his forehead.

"There. Is that better?"

"Mmm," Hercules hummed, pulling away. "We'll see." Before Aaron could do anything, he flashed a smile and backtracked out of the kitchen. "You'll have to make it up to me later!" His voice called, fading the further he went down the hallway.

Aaron snorted and settled back down in his chair. As he listened to Hercules' footsteps fade down the hallway, his excitement grew. His knee bounced in anticipation. Hercules would see the surprise any minute!

"....hey, Aaron?

There it was! Aaron smirked at Hercules' voice, which sounded about two pitches higher than it usually was. "Yes, Hercules?" He answered, casually taking a sip of coffee.

"Uhh.....could you come here?"

Trying (and failing) to repress a smile, he slid his chair back and walked out into the hallway. He could see Hercules standing frozen, staring out into the living room. By ducking around him, Aaron could see what the spectacle was: an orange tabby cat, eyes closed in contentment as it slept on the couch pillows. Hercules' face was drawn into a confused frown as he watched the cat, eyes taking in every detail.

"What is it, Hercules?"

He jumped, attention flashing to Aaron before focusing back on the cat. "Uhmm....why is there a cat on the couch?"

Aaron hummed in thought. "Well, it looks like he's sleeping."

"...but _why_ is he sleeping on the couch?"

"Well, for a cat, that seems to be a perfectly reasonable spot to sleep," he said, stepping around Herc to approach the couch. Slowly, Aaron reached a hand out and began to gently scratch the cat's head. Its eyes opened, but as it saw who was petting it, they slowly shut again. "Pillows would be a pretty comfortable spot to-"

"Aaron, you know what I mean!" Hercules exclaimed. He didn't sound mad; in fact, as Aaron smiled at him, Herc looked more exasperated and amused than anything. "Why is there a cat here?! We don't even have a cat!" His eyes blinked and grew wide. "Did you kidnap it? Please tell me you didn't-"

He couldn't stop himself from laughing. Kidnapping! Hercules actually thought he took someone else's cat?! "No! No! I-" Aaron burst into a new fit of laughter. "I didn't kidnap him. I adopted him! Relax!" Jesus Christ. Aaron loved the guy, really, but Hercules could _really_ be clueless sometimes.

On the other side of the room, Hercules' frown deepened. "...you adopted a cat?"

"I adopted a cat," he echoed. At this point, Aaron could just see the wheels in Herc's mind turning as he frowned at the pair. This was out of character for Aaron and, frankly, Aaron was enjoying the look on his boyfriend's face. He would have to surprise Hercules more often.

"Why?"

Aaron's face was going to hurt if he kept smiling this much. "You remember that argument we had a couple months ago?" He asked. "The one where you mentioned getting a dog?"

"...yeeeeaah. But I thought we couldn't have pets here?"

He beamed. "The renter's agreement only says we can't have _dogs_ here. Cats and smaller animals are okay, as long as they don't disturb anyone else too much and we clean up after them." He held up a finger to stop whatever protest Hercules was about to make. "And before you say anything, I checked the website for the complex _and_ asked the landlord. We're okay."

It was hard to miss the spark of excitement in Hercules' eye as soon as he finished. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Aaron grinned. "So, Hercules.....meet Cato."

He stepped back as Herc repeated the name, dropped onto the couch, and held out a hand. Sensing movement, Cato opened his eyes and sniffed the offered hand for a moment....before rubbing the side of his head against it, purring loudly. And......oh, yep. A quick glance at Hercules revealed he was like a little kid at Christmas. Aaron grinned at the sight before a crash at the end of the hallway diverted his attention.

"Shit!" he swore. "I forgot-!" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Herc snap his attention down the hall as well.

"What-" Herc began, but he found himself cut off by a dark brown blur streaking out from unlit hallway and leaping up, using Hercules' leg as a launch pad to tackle the other cat. Cato startled, resulting in both of them tumbling off the edge of the couch and landing on the floor before taking off. Aaron and Hercules could only watch as the chase took off back down the hallway and, likely, into a different room.

Herc blinked in surprise before turning to Aaron and smirking in amusement. "Soooo....?"

Aaron could only shift on his feet, bringing a hand up to scratch the back of his neck. "Uhmm.....yeah. Meet Hugh," he chuckled sheepishly. Hercules' eyebrow raised.

"Really, Aaron? _Two_ cats?"

"They're brothers! I wasn't going to split them up and only adopt one!" He protested.

Hercules snorted in amusement and held his arms out. "Come here." With a smile, Aaron fell into the embrace. It was nice. Herc was always warm -- and as he leaned back into the hug, Aaron found this one was no different. He felt Hercules press a kiss to his head, and a few seconds later a mumbled, "Thank you" followed.

Aaron smiled and turned to face Hercules. "Did I do alright?"

A meow came from underneath the couch. A second later, Hugh jumped up onto the couch, apparently determined to climb to the top. Cato soon followed. The chase must have died down a while ago, and both cats settled down without much ruckus. Hercules watched the pair, eyes shining with happiness.

"Aaron, you couldn't have done better if you tried."

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to me on Tumblr ( [@Schmilliam](https://schmilliam.tumblr.com/) )! I'd love to hear from you guys! :)


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